Electronic device and method for identifying falsification of biometric information

ABSTRACT

Provided are an electronic device and operation method thereof. The electronic device may include: a display having a biometric sensing region; a biometric sensor disposed in the biometric sensing region; and a processor. The processor may be configured to: operate a first sub-region of the biometric sensing region according to a first display attribute and operate a second sub-region of the biometric sensing region according to a second display attribute; while the first sub-region is operated according to the first display attribute and the second sub-region is operated according to the second display attribute, obtain, through the biometric sensor, a signal corresponding to an external object, wherein the signal is generated at least partially based on light that is emitted from the first sub-region or the second sub-region and reflected by the external object; perform authentication on the external object if the signal satisfies a specified condition; and prevent authentication on the external object if the signal does not satisfy the specified condition.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) of a Koreanpatent application filed on Mar. 20, 2017, in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office and assigned Serial No. 10-2017-0034966, the entiredisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Various embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to anelectronic device and method for identifying forged biometricinformation, and relate to a display control method for the electronicdevice and a biometric sensor.

BACKGROUND

Thanks to advances in information and communication technology andsemiconductor technology, mobile electronic devices such as smartphoneshave become a necessity of life. These device can provide variousservices when users installs various applications in their smartphones.

In recent years, for purposes of authentication and the like, electronicdevices have been able to recognize biometric information of users. Forexample, such an electronic device may include a biometric sensor torecognize user's biometric information. The biometric sensor may be, forexample, a fingerprint sensor, a heart rate monitor (HRM) sensor, or aniris sensor.

User authentication through the biometric sensor (e.g. the fingerprintrecognition module) is more secure compared with authentication usingpasswords or pattern inputs. In addition, the process of providingbiometric information is simpler for the user than the process ofinputting a password.

However, user authentication through biometric sensors may be veryvulnerable to forged biometric information. As user authenticationthrough biometric means (e.g. fingerprint sensors) has becomeincreasingly popular in recent years, security attacks using counterfeitbiometric information (e.g. forged fingerprints) have become animportant security concern. For example, optical fingerprint sensors areknown to be vulnerable to security attacks because they cannot readilyidentify fake fingerprints printed on paper.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the present disclosure are to address at least the abovementioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least theadvantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the presentdisclosure is to provide an electronic device and operation methodthereof that can enhance the security of the electronic device byaccurately identifying falsified biometric information (e.g. counterfeitfingerprint). This may be done by controlling the light source of thebiometric sensor.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, there isprovided an electronic device. The electronic device may include: adisplay having a biometric sensing region; a biometric sensor disposedin the biometric sensing region; and a processor, wherein the processoris configured to: operate a first sub-region of the biometric sensingregion according to a first display attribute and operate a secondsub-region of the biometric sensing region according to a second displayattribute; while the first sub-region is operated according to the firstdisplay attribute and the second sub-region is operated according to thesecond display attribute, obtain, through the biometric sensor, a signalcorresponding to an external object, wherein the signal is generated atleast partially based on light that is emitted from the first sub-regionor the second sub-region and reflected by the external object; performauthentication on the external object if the signal satisfies aspecified condition; and prevent authentication on the external objectif the signal does not satisfy the specified condition.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, there isprovided a method of operation for an electronic device including abiometric sensor and a display having a biometric sensing region. Themethod may include: operating a first sub-region of the biometricsensing region according to a first display attribute and operating asecond sub-region of the biometric sensing region according to a seconddisplay attribute; while the first sub-region is operated according tothe first display attribute and the second sub-region is operatedaccording to the second display attribute, obtaining, through thebiometric sensor, a signal corresponding to an external object, whereinthe signal is generated at least partially based on light that isemitted from the first sub-region or the second sub-region and reflectedby the external object; performing authentication on the external objectif the signal satisfies a specified condition; and preventingauthentication on the external object if the signal does not satisfy thespecified condition.

As a feature of the present disclosure, security is enhanced becausedisclosed embodiments may accurately identify falsified biometricinformation (e.g. counterfeit fingerprint) by controlling the lightsource of the biometric sensor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the present disclosure and many of theattendant aspects thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomesbetter understood by reference to the following detailed descriptionwhen considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a network environment including electronic devicesaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of program modules according to an embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are front views of an electronic device according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an electronic device including abiometric sensor mounted on a screen area of the display, according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic device according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic device according toanother embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a portion of the display as a lightsource for an optical biometric sensor, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B are schematic cross-sectional views of an electronicdevice illustrating a scheme for identifying falsified biometricinformation, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is optical profiles showing the results of a biometricinformation recognition experiment using an actual fingerprint and a 2Dcounterfeit fingerprint.

FIG. 11 shows a result of comparison between optical profiles obtainedby a biometric sensor for an actual fingerprint and a 2D counterfeitfingerprint.

FIG. 12A, FIG. 12B and FIG. 12C are diagrams illustrating variousbiometric sensors according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 13A and FIG. 13B are illustrations showing 2-dimensional fastFourier transforms of signals sensed by a biometric sensor according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14A, FIG. 14B, FIG. 14C, FIG. 14D, FIG. 14E and FIG. 14F illustratevarious light output schemes of the display for biometric informationrecognition according to various embodiments.

FIG. 15 is a graph of optical profiles obtained by the biometric sensorwhen the display is used as a light source and when the display ispartitioned into stripes as shown in FIG. 14B.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating more detailed operations of anelectronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings isprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of variousembodiments of the present disclosure as claimed by the claims and theirequivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in thatunderstanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatvarious changes and modifications of the various embodiments describedherein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of thepresent disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functionsand structures may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are notlimited to the dictionary meanings, but are merely used by the inventorto enable a clear and consistent understanding of the presentdisclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that the following description of various embodiments of the presentdisclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for thepurpose of limiting the present disclosure as defined by the appendedclaims and their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” mayalso refer to the plural, unless otherwise specified. Thus, for example,reference to “a component surface” includes reference to one or more ofsuch surfaces.

The expressions such as “include” and “may include” may denote thepresence of the disclosed functions, operations, and constituentelements and do not limit one or more additional functions, operations,and constituent elements. Terms such as “include” and/or “have” may beconstrued to denote a certain characteristic, operation, constituentelement, component or a combination thereof, but may not be construed toexclude the existence of or a possibility of addition of one or moreother characteristics, operations, constituent elements, components orcombinations thereof.

Furthermore, in the present disclosure, the expression “and/or” includesany and all combinations of the associated listed words. For example,the expression “A and/or B” may include A, may include B, or may includeboth A and B.

In the present disclosure, expressions including ordinal numbers, suchas “first” and “second,” etc., may refer to various elements. However,such elements are not limited by the above expressions. For example, theabove expressions do not limit the sequence and/or importance of theelements. The above expressions are used merely for the purpose ofdistinguishing an element from the other elements. For example, a firstuser device and a second user device indicate different user devicesalthough both of them are user devices. A first element could be termeda second element, and similarly, a second element could be also termed afirst element without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

In the case where a component is referred to as being “connected to” or“accessed be” another component, it should be understood that thecomponent may not be directly connected to or accessed by the othercomponent, but also there may exist another component between them.Meanwhile, in the case where a component is referred to as being“directly connected to” or “directly accessed by” another component, itshould be understood that there is no third component therebetween. Theterms used in the present disclosure are only used to describe specificvarious embodiments, and are not intended to limit the presentdisclosure.

Electronic devices according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure may be smartphones, tablet personal computers (PCs), mobilephones, video telephones, e-book readers, desktop PCs, laptop PCs,netbook computers, workstations, servers, personal digital assistants(PDAs), portable multimedia players (PMPs), Motion Picture Experts Group(MPEG-1 or MPEG-2) Audio Layer 3 (MP3) players, mobile medical devices,cameras, wearable devices (e.g., head-mounted-devices (HMDs), such aselectronic glasses), electronic apparel, electronic bracelets,electronic necklaces, electronic appcessories, electronic tattoos, smartwatches, and the like.

According to another embodiment, the electronic devices may be homeappliances, such as televisions (TVs), digital versatile disc (DVD)players, audios, refrigerators, air conditioners, cleaners, ovens,microwave ovens, washing machines, air cleaners, set-top boxes, homeautomation control panels, security control panels, TV boxes (e.g.,Samsung HomeSync™, Apple TV™, or Google TV™), game consoles (e.g., Xbox™or PlayStation™), electronic dictionaries, electronic keys, camcorders,electronic picture frames, or the like.

According to another embodiment, the electronic devices may be medicaldevices (e.g., various portable medical measurement devices, such asblood glucose monitoring devices, heartbeat measuring devices, bloodpressure measuring devices, body temperature measuring devices, etc.,magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) devices, magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) devices, computed tomography (CT) devices, medical scanners, andultrasonic devices), navigation devices, global positioning system (GPS)receivers, event data recorders (EDRs), flight data recorders (FDRs),vehicle infotainment devices, electronic equipment for vessels (e.g.,navigation systems and gyrocompasses), avionics, security devices, headunits for vehicles, industrial or home robots, automatic teller'smachines (ATMs), points of sales devices (POSs), or IoT (Internet ofThings) devices (e.g., light bulbs, sensors, electric or gas meters,sprinkler devices, fire alarms, thermostats, street lamps, toasters,exercise equipment, hot water tanks, heaters, boilers, and the like). Itmay be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the electronicdevice according to the present disclosure is not limited to theaforementioned devices.

FIG. 1 illustrates a network environment including electronic devicesaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, the electronic device 101 may include a bus 110, aprocessor 120, a memory 130, an input/output interface 150, a display160 and a communication interface 170, and other similar and/or suitablecomponents.

The bus 110 may be a circuit which interconnects the above-describedelements and delivers a communication (e.g., a control message) betweenthe above-described elements.

The processor 120 may receive commands from the above-described otherelements (e.g., the memory 130, input/output interface 150, the display160, the communication interface 170, etc.) through the bus 110, mayinterpret the received commands, and may execute calculation or dataprocessing according to the interpreted commands. The processor 120 mayinclude a microprocessor or any suitable type of processing circuitry,such as one or more general-purpose processors (e.g., ARM-basedprocessors), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), a Programmable LogicDevice (PLD), an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), aField-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a Graphical Processing Unit (GPU),a video card controller, etc. In addition, it would be recognized thatwhen a general purpose computer accesses code for implementing theprocessing shown herein, the execution of the code transforms thegeneral purpose computer into a special purpose computer for executingthe processing shown herein. Any of the functions and steps provided inthe Figures may be implemented in hardware, software or a combination ofboth and may be performed in whole or in part within the programmedinstructions of a computer. No claim element herein is to be construedunder the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, unless theelement is expressly recited using the phrase “means for.” In addition,an artisan understands and appreciates that a “processor” or“microprocessor” may be hardware in the claimed disclosure. Under thebroadest reasonable interpretation, the appended claims are statutorysubject matter in compliance with 35 U.S.C. § 101.

The memory 130 may store commands or data received from the processor120 or other elements (e.g., the input/output interface 150, a display160 and a communication interface 170, etc.) or generated by theprocessor 120 or the other elements. The memory 130 may includeprogramming modules, such as a kernel 131, middleware 132, anApplication Programming Interface (API) 133, an application 134, and thelike. Each of the above-described programming modules may be implementedin software, firmware, hardware, or a combination of two or morethereof.

The kernel 131 may control or manage system resources (e.g., the bus110, the processor 120, the memory 130, and/or other hardware andsoftware resources) used to execute operations or functions implementedby other programming modules (e.g., the middleware 132, the API 133, andthe application 134). Also, the kernel 131 may provide an interfacecapable of accessing and controlling or managing the individual elementsof the electronic device 101 by using the middleware 132, the API 133,or the application 134.

The middleware 132 may serve to go between the API 133 or theapplication 134 and the kernel 131 in such a manner that the API 133 orthe application 134 communicates with the kernel 131 and exchanges datatherewith. Also, in relation to work requests received from one or moreapplications 134 and/or the middleware 132, for example, may performload balancing of the work requests by using a method of assigning apriority, in which system resources (e.g., the bus 110, the processor120, the memory 130, etc.) of the electronic device 101 can be used, toat least one of the one or more applications 134.

The API 133 is an interface through which the application 134 is capableof controlling a function provided by the kernel 131 or the middleware132, and may include, for example, at least one interface or functionfor file control, window control, image processing, character control,or the like.

The input/output interface 150, for example, may receive a command ordata as input from a user, and may deliver the received command or datato the processor 120 or the memory 130 through the bus 110. The displaymodule 160 may display a video, an image, data, or the like to the user.

The communication interface module 170 may connect communication betweenanother electronic device 102 and the electronic device 101. Thecommunication interface module 170 may support a predeterminedshort-range communication protocol (e.g., Wi-Fi, BlueTooth (BT), andNear Field Communication (NFC)), or predetermined network 162 (e.g., theInternet, a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), atelecommunication network, a cellular network, a satellite network, aPlain Old Telephone Service (POTS), or the like). Each of the electronicdevices 102 and 104 may be a device which is identical (e.g., of anidentical type) to or different (e.g., of a different type) from theelectronic device 101. Further, the communication interface module 170may connect communication between a server 164 and the electronic device101 via the network 162.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic device 201according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The hardware shown in FIG. 2 may be, for example, the electronic device101 illustrated in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, the electronic device may include one or moreprocessors 210, a communication module 220, a Subscriber IdentificationModule (SIM) card 224, a memory 230, a sensor module 240, a input device250, a display module 260, an interface 270, an audio module 280, acamera module 291, a power management module 295, a battery 296, anindicator 297, a motor 298 and any other similar and/or suitablecomponents.

The Application Processor (AP) 210 (e.g., the processor 120) may includeone or more Application Processors (APs), or one or more CommunicationProcessors (CPs). The processor 210 may be, for example, the processor120 illustrated in FIG. 1. The AP 210 is illustrated as being includedin the processor 210 in FIG. 2, but may be included in differentIntegrated Circuit (IC) packages, respectively. According to anembodiment of the present disclosure, the AP 210 may be included in oneIC package.

The AP 210 may execute an Operating System (OS) or an applicationprogram, and thereby may control multiple hardware or software elementsconnected to the AP 210 and may perform processing of and arithmeticoperations on various data including multimedia data. The AP 210 may beimplemented by, for example, a System on Chip (SoC). According to anembodiment of the present disclosure, the AP 210 may further include aGraphical Processing Unit (GPU) (not illustrated).

The AP 210 may manage a data line and may convert a communicationprotocol in the case of communication between the electronic device(e.g., the electronic device 101) including the hardware and differentelectronic devices connected to the electronic device through thenetwork. The AP 210 may be implemented by, for example, a SoC. Accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure, the AP 210 may perform atleast some of multimedia control functions.

The AP 210, for example, may distinguish and authenticate a terminal ina communication network by using a subscriber identification module(e.g., the SIM card 224). Also, the AP 210 may provide the user withservices, such as a voice telephony call, a video telephony call, a textmessage, packet data, and the like.

Further, the AP 210 may control the transmission and reception of databy the communication module 220. In FIG. 2, the elements such as the AP210, the power management module 295, the memory 230, and the like areillustrated as elements separate from the AP 210. However, according toan embodiment of the present disclosure, the AP 210 may include at leastsome (e.g., the CP) of the above-described elements.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the AP 210 mayload, to a volatile memory, a command or data received from at least oneof a non-volatile memory and other elements connected to each of the AP210, and may process the loaded command or data. Also, the AP 210 maystore, in a non-volatile memory, data received from or generated by atleast one of the other elements.

The SIM card 224 may be a card implementing a subscriber identificationmodule, and may be inserted into a slot formed in a particular portionof the electronic device 101. The SIM card 224 may include uniqueidentification information (e.g., Integrated Circuit Card IDentifier(ICCID)) or subscriber information (e.g., International MobileSubscriber Identity (IMSI)).

The memory 230 may include an internal memory 232 and an external memory234. The memory 230 may be, for example, the memory 130 illustrated inFIG. 1. The internal memory 232 may include, for example, at least oneof a volatile memory (e.g., a Dynamic RAM (DRAM), a Static RAM (SRAM), aSynchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM), etc.), and a non-volatile memory (e.g.,a One Time Programmable ROM (OTPROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), anErasable and Programmable ROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable andProgrammable ROM (EEPROM), a mask ROM, a flash ROM, a Not AND (NAND)flash memory, a Not OR (NOR) flash memory, etc.). According to anembodiment of the present disclosure, the internal memory 232 may be inthe form of a Solid State Drive (SSD). The external memory 234 mayfurther include a flash drive, for example, a Compact Flash (CF), aSecure Digital (SD), a Micro-Secure Digital (Micro-SD), a Mini-SecureDigital (Mini-SD), an extreme Digital (xD), a memory stick, or the like.

The communication module 220 may include a cellular module 221, awireless (WiFi) communication module 223 or a Radio Frequency (RF)module 229. The communication module 220 may be, for example, thecommunication interface 170 illustrated in FIG. 1. The communicationmodule 220 may include, for example, a Wi-Fi part 223, a BT part 225, aGPS part 227, or a NFC part 228. For example, the wireless communicationmodule 220 may provide a wireless communication function by using aradio frequency. Additionally or alternatively, the wirelesscommunication module 220 may include a network interface (e.g., a LANcard), a modulator/demodulator (modem), or the like for connecting thehardware to a network (e.g., the Internet, a LAN, a WAN, atelecommunication network, a cellular network, a satellite network, aPOTS, or the like).

The RF module 229 may be used for transmission and reception of data,for example, transmission and reception of RF signals or calledelectronic signals. Although not illustrated, the RF unit 229 mayinclude, for example, a transceiver, a Power Amplifier Module (PAM), afrequency filter, a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA), or the like. Also, the RFmodule 229 may further include a component for transmitting andreceiving electromagnetic waves in a free space in a wirelesscommunication, for example, a conductor, a conductive wire, or the like.

The sensor module 240 may include, for example, at least one of agesture sensor 240A, a gyro sensor 240B, an barometer sensor 240C, amagnetic sensor 240D, an acceleration sensor 240E, a grip sensor 240F, aproximity sensor 240G, a Red, Green and Blue (RGB) sensor 240H, abiometric sensor 240I, a temperature/humidity sensor 240J, anilluminance sensor 240K, and a Ultra Violet (UV) sensor 240M. The sensormodule 240 may measure a physical quantity or may sense an operatingstate of the electronic device 101, and may convert the measured orsensed information to an electrical signal. Additionally/alternatively,the sensor module 240 may include, for example, an E-nose sensor (notillustrated), an ElectroMyoGraphy (EMG) sensor (not illustrated), anElectroEncephaloGram (EEG) sensor (not illustrated), anElectroCardioGram (ECG) sensor (not illustrated), a fingerprint sensor(not illustrated), and the like. Additionally or alternatively, thesensor module 240 may include, for example, an E-nose sensor (notillustrated), an EMG sensor (not illustrated), an EEG sensor (notillustrated), an ECG sensor (not illustrated), a fingerprint sensor, andthe like. The sensor module 240 may further include a control circuit(not illustrated) for controlling one or more sensors included therein.

The input device 250 may include a touch panel 252, a pen sensor 254(e.g., a digital pen sensor), keys 256, and an ultrasonic input unit258. The input device 250 may be, for example, the input/outputinterface 150 illustrated in FIG. 1. The touch panel 252 may recognize atouch input in at least one of, for example, a capacitive scheme, aresistive scheme, an infrared scheme, and an acoustic wave scheme. Also,the touch panel 252 may further include a controller (not illustrated).In the capacitive type, the touch panel 252 is capable of recognizingproximity as well as a direct touch. The touch panel 252 may furtherinclude a tactile layer (not illustrated). In this event, the touchpanel 252 may provide a tactile response to the user.

The pen sensor 254 (e.g., a digital pen sensor), for example, may beimplemented by using a method identical or similar to a method ofreceiving a touch input from the user, or by using a separate sheet forrecognition. For example, a key pad or a touch key may be used as thekeys 256. The ultrasonic input unit 258 enables the terminal to sense asound wave by using a microphone (e.g., a microphone 288) of theterminal through a pen generating an ultrasonic signal, and to identifydata. The ultrasonic input unit 258 is capable of wireless recognition.According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the hardware mayreceive a user input from an external device (e.g., a network, acomputer, or a server), which is connected to the communication module220, through the communication module 220.

The display module 260 may include a panel 262, a hologram 264, orprojector 266. The display module 260 may be, for example, the displaymodule 160 illustrated in FIG. 1. The panel 262 may be, for example, aLiquid Crystal Display (LCD) and an Active Matrix Organic Light EmittingDiode (AM-OLED) display, and the like. The panel 262 may be implementedso as to be, for example, flexible, transparent, or wearable. The panel262 may include the touch panel 252 and one module. The hologram 264 maydisplay a three-dimensional image in the air by using interference oflight. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the displaymodule 260 may further include a control circuit for controlling thepanel 262 or the hologram 264.

The interface 270 may include, for example, a High-Definition MultimediaInterface (HDMI) 272, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) 274, an opticalinterface 276, and a D-subminiature (D-sub) 278. Additionally oralternatively, the interface 270 may include, for example,SD/Multi-Media Card (MMC) (not illustrated) or Infrared Data Association(IrDA) (not illustrated).

The audio module 280 may bidirectionally convert between a voice and anelectrical signal. The audio module 280 may convert voice information,which is input to or output from the audio module 280, through, forexample, a speaker 282, a receiver 284, an earphone 286, the microphone288 or the like.

The camera module 291 may capture an image and a moving image. Accordingto an embodiment, the camera module 291 may include one or more imagesensors (e.g., a front lens or a back lens), an Image Signal Processor(ISP) (not illustrated), and a flash LED (not illustrated).

The power management module 295 may manage power of the hardware.Although not illustrated, the power management module 295 may include,for example, a Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC), a chargerIntegrated Circuit (IC), or a battery fuel gauge.

The PMIC may be mounted to, for example, an IC or a SoC semiconductor.Charging methods may be classified into a wired charging method and awireless charging method. The charger IC may charge a battery, and mayprevent an overvoltage or an overcurrent from a charger to the battery.According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the charger IC mayinclude a charger IC for at least one of the wired charging method andthe wireless charging method. Examples of the wireless charging methodmay include a magnetic resonance method, a magnetic induction method, anelectromagnetic method, and the like. Additional circuits (e.g., a coilloop, a resonance circuit, a rectifier, etc.) for wireless charging maybe added in order to perform the wireless charging.

The battery fuel gauge may measure, for example, a residual quantity ofthe battery 296, or a voltage, a current or a temperature during thecharging. The battery 296 may supply power by generating electricity,and may be, for example, a rechargeable battery.

The indicator 297 may indicate particular states of the hardware or apart (e.g., the AP 211) of the hardware, for example, a booting state, amessage state, a charging state and the like. The motor 298 may convertan electrical signal into a mechanical vibration. The processor 210 maycontrol the sensor module 240.

Although not illustrated, the hardware may include a processing unit(e.g., a GPU) for supporting a module TV. The processing unit forsupporting a module TV may process media data according to standardssuch as, for example, Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB), DigitalVideo Broadcasting (DVB), media flow, and the like. Each of theabove-described elements of the hardware according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure may include one or more components, and the nameof the relevant element may change depending on the type of electronicdevice. The hardware according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure may include at least one of the above-described elements.Some of the above-described elements may be omitted from the hardware,or the hardware may further include additional elements. Also, some ofthe elements of the hardware according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure may be combined into one entity, which may perform functionsidentical to those of the relevant elements before the combination.

The term “module” used in the present disclosure may refer to, forexample, a unit including one or more combinations of hardware,software, and firmware. The “module” may be interchangeable with a term,such as “unit,” “logic,” “logical block,” “component,” “circuit,” or thelike. The “module” may be implemented mechanically or electronically.For example, the “module” according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure may include at least one of an Application-SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC) chip, a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA),and a programmable-logic device for performing certain operations whichhave been known or are to be developed in the future.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating one or more programming modules300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The programming module 300 may be included (or stored) in the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., the memory 130) or may be included (or stored) in theelectronic device 201 (e.g., the memory 230) illustrated in FIG. 1. Atleast a part of the programming module 300 may be implemented insoftware, firmware, hardware, or a combination of two or more thereof.The programming module 300 may be implemented in hardware (e.g., thehardware), and may include an OS controlling resources related to anelectronic device (e.g., the electronic device 101) and/or variousapplications (e.g., an application 370) executed in the OS. For example,the OS may be Android, iOS, Windows, Symbian, Tizen, Bada, and the like.

Referring to FIG. 3, the programming module 300 may include a kernel310, a middleware 330, an API 360, and/or the application 370.

The kernel 310 (e.g., the kernel 131) may include a system resourcemanager 311 and/or a device driver 312. The system resource manager 311may include, for example, a process manager (not illustrated), a memorymanager (not illustrated), and a file system manager (not illustrated).The system resource manager 311 may perform the control, allocation,recovery, and/or the like of system resources. The device driver 312 mayinclude, for example, a display driver (not illustrated), a cameradriver (not illustrated), a Bluetooth driver (not illustrated), a sharedmemory driver (not illustrated), a USB driver (not illustrated), akeypad driver (not illustrated), a Wi-Fi driver (not illustrated),and/or an audio driver (not illustrated). Also, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure, the device driver 312 may includean Inter-Process Communication (IPC) driver (not illustrated).

The middleware 330 may include multiple modules previously implementedso as to provide a function used in common by the applications 370.Also, the middleware 330 may provide a function to the applications 370through the API 360 in order to enable the applications 370 toefficiently use limited system resources within the electronic device.For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the middleware 330 (e.g., themiddleware 132) may include at least one of a runtime library 335, anapplication manager 341, a window manager 342, a multimedia manager 343,a resource manager 344, a power manager 345, a database manager 346, apackage manager 347, a connectivity manager 348, a notification manager349, a location manager 350, a graphic manager 351, a security manager352, and any other suitable and/or similar manager.

The runtime library 335 may include, for example, a library module usedby a complier, in order to add a new function by using a programminglanguage during the execution of the application 370. According to anembodiment of the present disclosure, the runtime library 335 mayperform functions which are related to input and output, the managementof a memory, an arithmetic function, and/or the like.

The application manager 341 may manage, for example, a life cycle of atleast one of the applications 370. The window manager 342 may manage GUIresources used on the screen. The multimedia manager 343 may detect aformat used to reproduce various media files and may encode or decode amedia file through a codec appropriate for the relevant format. Theresource manager 344 may manage resources, such as a source code, amemory, a storage space, and/or the like of at least one of theapplications 370.

The power manager 345 may operate together with a Basic Input/OutputSystem (BIOS), may manage a battery or power, and may provide powerinformation and the like used for an operation. The database manager 346may manage a database in such a manner as to enable the generation,search and/or change of the database to be used by at least one of theapplications 370. The package manager 347 may manage the installationand/or update of an application distributed in the form of a packagefile.

The connectivity manager 348 may manage a wireless connectivity such as,for example, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The notification manager 349 maydisplay or report, to the user, an event such as an arrival message, anappointment, a proximity alarm, and the like in such a manner as not todisturb the user. The location manager 350 may manage locationinformation of the electronic device. The graphic manager 351 may managea graphic effect, which is to be provided to the user, and/or a userinterface related to the graphic effect. The security manager 352 mayprovide various security functions used for system security, userauthentication, and the like. According to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, when the electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 101)has a telephone function, the middleware 330 may further include atelephony manager (not illustrated) for managing a voice telephony callfunction and/or a video telephony call function of the electronicdevice.

The middleware 330 may generate and use a new middleware module throughvarious functional combinations of the above-described internal elementmodules. The middleware 330 may provide modules specialized according totypes of OSs in order to provide differentiated functions. Also, themiddleware 330 may dynamically delete some of the existing elements, ormay add new elements. Accordingly, the middleware 330 may omit some ofthe elements described in the various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, may further include other elements, or may replace the someof the elements with elements, each of which performs a similar functionand has a different name.

The API 360 (e.g., the API 133) is a set of API programming functions,and may be provided with a different configuration according to an OS.In the case of Android or iOS, for example, one API set may be providedto each platform. In the case of Tizen, for example, two or more APIsets may be provided to each platform.

The applications 370 (e.g., the applications 134) may include, forexample, a preloaded application and/or a third party application. Theapplications 370 (e.g., the applications 134) may include, for example,a home application 371, a dialer application 372, a Short MessageService (SMS)/Multimedia Message Service (MMS) application 373, anInstant Message (IM) application 374, a browser application 375, acamera application 376, an alarm application 377, a contact application378, a voice dial application 379, an electronic mail (e-mail)application 380, a calendar application 381, a media player application382, an album application 383, a clock application 384, and any othersuitable and/or similar application.

At least a part of the programming module 300 may be implemented byinstructions stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium. When the instructions are executed by one or more processors(e.g., the one or more processors 210), the one or more processors mayperform functions corresponding to the instructions. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium may be, for example, the memory 230. Atleast a part of the programming module 300 may be implemented (e.g.,executed) by, for example, the one or more processors 210. At least apart of the programming module 300 may include, for example, a module, aprogram, a routine, a set of instructions, and/or a process forperforming one or more functions.

Names of the elements of the programming module (e.g., the programmingmodule 300) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure maychange depending on the type of OS. The programming module according toan embodiment of the present disclosure may include one or more of theabove-described elements. Alternatively, some of the above-describedelements may be omitted from the programming module. Alternatively, theprogramming module may further include additional elements. Theoperations performed by the programming module or other elementsaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be processed ina sequential method, a parallel method, a repetitive method, or aheuristic method. Also, some of the operations may be omitted, or otheroperations may be added to the operations.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theelectronic device may include: a display having a biometric sensingregion; a biometric sensor disposed in the biometric sensing region; andat least one processor, wherein the processor is configured to: operatea first sub-region of the biometric sensing region according to a firstdisplay attribute and operate a second sub-region of the biometricsensing region according to a second display attribute; while the firstsub-region is operated according to the first display attribute and thesecond sub-region is operated according to the second display attribute,obtain, through the biometric sensor, a signal corresponding to anexternal object, wherein the signal is generated at least partiallybased on light that is emitted from the first sub-region or the secondsub-region and reflected by the external object; perform authenticationon the external object if the signal satisfies a specified condition;and prevent authentication on the external object if the signal does notsatisfy the specified condition. Operating the first sub-region of thebiometric sensing region according to the first display attribute andoperating the second sub-region of the biometric sensing regionaccording to the second display attribute may be performed when theexternal object is in contact with or in proximity to the biometricsensing region. In operating the first sub-region of the biometricsensing region according to the first display attribute and operatingthe second sub-region of the biometric sensing region according to thesecond display attribute, the processor may be further configured toadjust brightness, color, or grayscale of the display or a voltageapplied to the display. In operating the first sub-region of thebiometric sensing region according to the first display attribute andoperating the second sub-region of the biometric sensing regionaccording to the second display attribute, the processor may be furtherconfigured to activate at least one pixel included in the firstsub-region and deactivate at least one pixel included in the secondsub-region. The biometric sensor may be configured to include a firstbiometric sensing region corresponding to the first sub-region and asecond biometric sensing region corresponding to the second sub-region,and the processor may be further configured to determine whether thesignal satisfies the specified condition at least partially based on afirst signal generated by the first biometric sensing region or a secondsignal generated by the second biometric sensing region. The processormay be further configured to: determine that the specified condition issatisfied if a portion of the signal corresponds to a designatedfrequency, and determine that the specified condition is not satisfiedif the portion of the signal does not correspond to the designatedfrequency. The processor may be further configured to: select a firstportion of the signal corresponding to a first pixel included in thesecond sub-region of the display and select a second portion of thesignal corresponding to a second pixel included in the secondsub-region; assign a first weight to the first portion and assign asecond weight to the second portion; and determine whether the specifiedcondition is satisfied at least partially based on the first portionweighted with the first weight and the second portion weighted with thesecond weight. The processor may be further configured to: operate thefirst sub-region and the second sub-region according to a same displayattribute; while the first sub-region and the second sub-region areoperated according to the same display attribute, obtain, through thebiometric sensor, a second signal corresponding to the external object,wherein the second signal is generated at least partially based on lightfrom the first sub-region or the second sub-region and reflected by theexternal object; and perform the authentication at least partially basedon the second signal. The processor may be further configured toperiodically change the first display attribute or the second displayattribute. Operating the first sub-region of the biometric sensingregion according to the first display attribute and operating the secondsub-region of the biometric sensing region according to the seconddisplay attribute may be performed when the electronic device is in aspecified state or an application running on the electronic devicerequired a specified security. The processor may be further configuredto: set at least a portion of a border of the biometric sensing regionas the second sub-region; and set at least a portion of a remainingregion of the biometric sensing region as the first sub-region.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are front views of an electronic device according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

With reference to FIG. 4A, in one embodiment, the electronic device 400(e.g. electronic device 101) includes a front display 410 (e.g. display160), and the biometric sensor 411 (e.g. biometric sensor 240I) may bepositioned to overlap at least a portion of the screen area of thedisplay 410. In one embodiment, an operation button (e.g. home button)420 may be disposed at one portion (e.g. lower end portion) of thescreen area of the display 410, and a camera 430 and at least one sensor440 may be disposed at the other portion (e.g. upper end portion) of thescreen area of the display 410. In one embodiment, the biometric sensor411 may be disposed in the active area or black matrix area of thedisplay 410.

The fact that the biometric sensor 411 is positioned so as to overlap atleast a portion of the screen area of the display 410 may mean that thebiometric sensor 411 is disposed inside the portion of the screen areaof the display 410, that the biometric sensor 411 is disposed above thedisplay 410 so as to overlap the portion of the screen area of thedisplay 410, or that the biometric sensor 411 is disposed under thedisplay 410 so as to overlap the portion of the screen area of thedisplay 410. When the biometric sensor 411 is disposed above or underthe display 410, the biometric sensor 411 may be directly attached tothe corresponding surface (upper surface or lower surface) of thedisplay 410 via an adhesive layer (not shown). Thus, when the biometricsensor 411 is disposed above or under the display 410, at least oneother component may be disposed between the biometric sensor 411 and thedisplay 410. In one embodiment, the biometric sensor 411 may be disposedunder the display 410. For example, the biometric sensor 411 may acquirebiometric information of an object (e.g. user's finger) when that objectis placed on the area of the display 410 corresponding to the biometricsensor 411.

With reference to FIG. 4B, in another embodiment, the electronic device400 may include a display 410 whose screen area is expanded to encompassthe whole front face of the electronic device 400, and the biometricsensor 411 may be positioned to overlap a portion of the screen area ofthe display 410. In one embodiment, the biometric sensor 411 may bedisposed under the screen area. The positioning of the biometric sensor411 will be described in more detail later with reference to FIG. 5. Forexample, the physical key (e.g. operation button 420) may be removedfrom the front face of the electronic device 400, and the larger screenarea of the display 410 may encompass the region that housed thephysical key in FIG. 4A (e.g. the lower region of the front face inwhich the home button is positioned). Similarly, the camera 430 and theat least one sensor 440 may be disposed to overlap a portion of thescreen area of the display 410, such that the larger screen area of thedisplay 410 also occupies the region that housed the camera 430 and theat least one sensor 440 in FIG. 4A. In one embodiment, in place of thephysical key 420, an operation button using a touch sensor or a pressuresensor may be disposed to overlap a region of the screen areacorresponding to the original location of the physical key 420.Accordingly, the screen area of the display 410 shown in FIG. 4B may belarger than the area occupied by the screen area of the display 410shown in FIG. 4A.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an electronic device including abiometric sensor mounted on the screen area of the display, according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

With reference to FIG. 5, in one embodiment, the cross-sectionalstructure of the electronic device (e.g. electronic device 400) mayinclude a glass 510, an adhesive layer 520, a touch sensor 530 (e.g.touch panel 252), which, as described below, may be used as a biometricsensor, a display 540 (e.g. display 160), and a PCB 590.

In one embodiment, to sense user's biometric information, the electronicdevice 400 may include a biometric sensor 530, 544 or 580 (e.g.biometric sensor 411) mounted at a position corresponding to a region501 of the display 540. The region 501 of the display 540 may be thesame or similar region as the region in which the biometric sensor 411is formed in the screen area of the display 410 in FIG. 4A or 4B. Thebiometric sensor 530, 544 or 580 may be positioned to overlap one ormore partial regions of the display 540 (e.g. one region or pluralregions), or may be positioned to overlap the whole screen area (e.g.active area) of the display 540.

The biometric sensor 530 may be located above the display 540, thebiometric sensor 544 may be embedded in a region of the display 540, andthe biometric sensor 580 may be located under the display 540. Thebiometric sensor 530, 544 or 580 may be variously implemented usingoptical image sensors, ultrasonic transmission/reception modules,electrostatic transmission/reception electrode patterns, etc.

In one embodiment, the biometric sensor 530 may be positioned betweenthe adhesive layer 520 and the display 540. Although not shown, thebiometric sensor 530 may also be positioned between the glass 510 andthe adhesive layer 520. The biometric sensor 530 may be implementedusing an electrostatic transmission/reception electrode pattern, and maybe formed as a transparent electrode to increase the transmittance oflight outputted from the display 540. The biometric sensor 530 may alsobe implemented using an ultrasonic transmission/reception module.

In another embodiment, the biometric sensor 544 may be formed in theactive area or black matrix area of the display 540. For example, thedisplay 540 may include at least one of the red pixel 541, the greenpixel 542, and the blue pixel 543, and the biometric sensor 544 may beimplemented as a photodiode (PD) or phototransistor located at the samelayer as the pixels. In one embodiment, the biometric sensor 544 may bean optical fingerprint sensor that uses light output from the display540 as its light source. For example, the biometric sensor 544 mayobtain user's fingerprint information 502 by sensing the light that isoutputted from the display 540 and then is reflected by the user'sfinger. In a different embodiment, the optical biometric sensor 544 mayobtain user's fingerprint information 502 by using light outputted fromits own independent light source, i.e. in this embodiment, the opticalbiometric sensor 544 does not use the light outputted from the display540. For example, the optical biometric sensor 544 may include aninfrared light emitting diode (LED), not shown in FIG. 5. The infraredLED may be located, for example, below the display 540 or located at aportion of the border area of the display 540.

In one embodiment, the biometric sensor 580 may be located below thedisplay 540. For example, the biometric sensor 580 and sealingstructures 551 and 552 for securing a mounting space of the biometricsensor 580 may be disposed under the display 540. In one embodiment, thebiometric sensor 580 may be an optical fingerprint sensor that useslight output from the display 540 as its light source. In a differentembodiment, the biometric sensor 580 may obtain user's fingerprintinformation 502 using its own independent light source. The sealingstructures 551 and 552 may be configured to protect the biometric sensor580 from, for example, external impact. In one embodiment, the biometricsensor 580 may be located within an internal space formed by the sealingstructures 551 and 552 (e.g. the space between the sealing structures511 and 552). For example, the biometric sensor 580 may be formed on thebase substrate 590 and be positioned between the display 540 and thesubstrate 590. Between the biometric sensor 580 and the display 540,elastic bodies 571 and 572 (e.g. plastic, sponge or rubber) may beformed for shock absorption or for the prevention of foreign matterinflow.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic device according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

With reference to FIG. 6, in one embodiment, the electronic device 600(e.g. electronic device 101) may include at least one processor (e.g.first processor 610 or second processor 620), a memory 630 (e.g. memory130), a display 640 (e.g. display 540), and at least one sensor 650.

The at least one processor 610 or 620 may be the same as or similar to,for example, the processor 120.

The first processor 610 (e.g. main processor) may control the overalloperation of the electronic device 600.

For example, when the electronic device 600 is in its sleep state, thesecond processor 620 (e.g. low-power processor, or sensor HUB) mayprocess sensing information obtained via the at least one sensor 650 orinputs from the user. The second processor 620 may perform thisprocessing without waking up the first processor 610. That is, thesecond processor 620 may control the at least one sensor 650 or thedisplay 640 independently of the first processor 610. The memory 630 mayinclude a normal section for storing user applications or the like, anda secured section for storing security sensitive information such asfingerprint information.

The display 640 may include a display panel 642 including a plurality ofpixels, and a display driver module 641 (e.g. display driver IC, DDI)configured to control at least some of the pixels included in thedisplay panel 642 so as to display information.

The at least one sensor 650 may include, for example, a biometric sensor651 (e.g. biometric sensor 240I) for sensing the fingerprint of a useron the display 640, and a touch sensor 652 (e.g. touch panel 252) fordetecting a user touch on the display 640 or a proximity input near thedisplay 640. The at least one sensor 650 may be identical or similar tothe sensor module 240 and include an optical fingerprint sensor. In oneembodiment, the biometric sensor 651 may be an optical fingerprintsensor (e.g. image sensor) that uses light output from the display 640as a light source. Alternatively, the biometric sensor 651 may be anultrasonic fingerprint sensor. In another embodiment, the biometricsensor 651 may be a capacitive fingerprint sensor.

In various embodiments, the at least one sensor 650 may drive aplurality of pixels included in the display panel 642 via the displaydriver module 641 in response to a user input. In one embodiment, theleast one sensor 650 may control the display panel 642 to obtain a userinput or biometric information of the user. For example, to acquirebiometric information of the user, the biometric sensor 651 may controlthe display panel 642 and use the light emitted therefrom.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic device according toanother embodiment of the present disclosure.

With reference to FIG. 7, the electronic device 700 (e.g. electronicdevice 101) may include at least one processor (e.g. first processor 710or second processor 720), a memory 730 (e.g. memory 130), a display 740(e.g. display 540), and at least one sensor 750. The at least oneprocessor 710 or 720 may be identical or similar to, for example, theprocessor 120. The at least one sensor 750 may include, for example, abiometric sensor 751 (e.g. biometric sensor 240I) for sensing thefingerprint of a user on the display 740, and a touch sensor 752 (e.g.touch panel 252) for detecting a user touch on the display 740 or aproximity input near the display 740.

In one embodiment, the electronic device 700 (e.g. electronic device101) may include a plurality of controllers, such as a first controller712, a second controller 722, a third controller 743, a fourthcontroller 753, and a fifth controller 760. The controllers may beincluded respectively in the corresponding modules constituting theelectronic device 700, such as the first processor 710, the secondprocessor 720, the DDI 741 (e.g. display driver module 641), and thebiometric sensor 751.

In one embodiment, the electronic device 700 may control a specificmodule by using the controller included in the module. For example, theelectronic device 700 may control the first processor 710 using thefirst controller 712 and control the second processor 720 using thesecond controller 722. The electronic device 700 may control the DDI 741using the third controller 743 and control the biometric sensor 751using the fourth controller 753.

In one embodiment, the electronic device 700 may designate onecontroller as the main controller and control all the modules thereof bycontrolling the remaining controllers through the designated maincontroller, i.e. the electronic device 700 may use the main controllerto control the remaining controllers. For example, the fifth controller760 may be designated as the main controller and the electronic device700 may use the fifth controller 760 to control the first controller712, the second controller 722, the third controller 743, and the fourthcontroller 753. The electronic device 700 may change the designation ofthe main controller. For example, the electronic device 700 may changethe main controller from the fifth controller 760 to the firstcontroller 712 and use the first controller 712 to control the remainingcontrollers (the second to fifth controllers 722, 743, 753 and 760).

Alternatively, the electronic device 700 may directly control themodules thereof using a single controller. For example, the electronicdevice 700 may use the first controller 712 included in the firstprocessor 710 to directly control the second processor 720, the memory730, the display 740, and/or the at least one sensor 750. In anotherembodiment, the electronic device 700 may use one controller to directlycontrol the display 740 and the at least one sensor 750. For example,when the biometric sensor 751 is an optical fingerprint sensor that usesthe display 740 as its light source, the electronic device 700 may use asingle controller to control the display 740 and the biometric sensor751, so that it may easily obtain fingerprint information of the user.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a portion of the display (e.g. region501 of the display 540 in FIG. 5) as a light source for an opticalbiometric sensor, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

With reference to FIG. 8, the processor (e.g. first processor 610 orsecond processor 620) may control at least a portion of the display(e.g. display 540) as a light source to output light and drive theoptical biometric sensor (e.g. biometric sensor 580) to sense thebiometric information generated using the light source. For example, theprocessor 610 or 620 may set the first sub-region 810 to a first displayattribute and set the second sub-region 820 to a second displayattribute. That is, the processor 610 or 620 may control the firstsub-region 810 of the display 540 to output light corresponding to thefirst display attribute, and control the second sub-region 820 of thedisplay 540 to output light corresponding to the second displayattribute. The first display attribute and the second display attributemay be different in terms of color, brightness, intensity, etc.

In one embodiment, as part of setting the first display attribute andthe second display attribute, the processor 610 or 620 may adjust thebrightness, color, or grayscale of the display 540 and at least onevoltage applied to the display 540. In one embodiment, the processor 610or 620 may activate the pixels included in the first sub-region 810 ofthe display 540 according to the first display attribute, and maydeactivate the pixels included in the second sub-region 820 of thedisplay 540 according to the second display attribute. Deactivating apixel may mean, for example, that the brightness of the pixel is set tozero (0) or the pixel does not emit light.

In one embodiment, the processor 610 or 620 may set the first displayattribute to a specific color (e.g. cyan) and set the second displayattribute to zero brightness. For example, the processor 610 or 620 maycontrol the first sub-region 810 of the display 540 to emit cyan colorlight according to the first display attribute, and control the pixelsincluded in the second sub-region 820 of the display 540 to bedeactivated according to the second display attribute.

As described above, the processor 610 or 620 may control the display 540to deactivate at least some pixels in the biometric sensing region 501.This operation may be used to identify forged biometric information.

Next, a detailed description of a scheme for identifying falsifiedbiometric information is given. In the scheme, the display 540 servingas a light source of the optical biometric sensor 580 is partiallycontrolled.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are schematic cross-sectional views of an electronicdevice illustrating a scheme for identifying falsified biometricinformation. The electronic device (e.g. electronic device 600) shown inFIGS. 9A and 9B may be identical or similar to the electronic deviceshown in FIG. 5. In FIGS. 9A and 9B, the same or similar components orfeatures as those in FIG. 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

For ease of description, only operations or elements not previouslydescribed will be described below. FIG. 9A depicts a case where anactual fingerprint 901 of the user is inputted to the electronic device600. FIG. 9B depicts a case where a counterfeit fingerprint 903 (e.g. aphotocopy of the user's actual fingerprint) is inputted to theelectronic device 600.

In FIG. 9A, the processor (e.g. first processor 610 or second processor620) may change attributes of at least some region of the display 540.For example, among the biometric sensing region 501 of the display 540,the processor 610 or 620 may set the first sub-region 810 to a firstdisplay attribute and set the second sub-region 820 a second displayattribute which is different than the first display attribute. Theprocessor 610 or 620 may control the first sub-region 810 to emit lightcorresponding to the first display attribute and control the secondsub-region 820 to emit light corresponding to the second displayattribute. The first display attribute and the second display attributemay be different in terms of color, brightness, intensity, etc.

In one embodiment, the processor 610 or 620 may control the display 540to output light in a portion of the preset biometric sensing region 501as indicated by indicia 920, and not to output light in a portion of thebiometric sensing region 501 as indicated by indicia 910. For example,the processor 610 or 620 may activate pixels included in the regionindicated by indicia 920 according to the first display attribute, andmay deactivate pixels included in the region indicated by indicia 910according to the second display attribute. Deactivating a pixel maymean, for example, that the brightness of the pixel is set to zero (0).

When the actual fingerprint 901 is brought into contact with the glass510, as the actual fingerprint 901 has ridges and valleys in threedimensions (3D), the characteristics of light reflected by portions ofthe surface of glass 510 coinciding with the ridges and valleys of thefingerprint 901 may be different. For example, at the portion where theridge of the fingerprint 901 contacts the glass 510, the refractionindex of the ridge of the fingerprint 901 may be similar to that of theglass 510, so that a portion of the light output from the display 540may be absorbed by the finger. At the portion where the valley of thefingerprint 901 contacts the glass 510, as an air layer having arelatively low refractive index exists between the valley of thefingerprint 901 and the surface of the glass 510, a portion of the lightoutput from the display 540 may be refracted and then reflected by thevalley toward the biometric sensor 580 as indicated by indicia 923.

On the other hand, 9B, when a 2D counterfeit fingerprint 903 is broughtinto contact with the glass 510, the counterfeit fingerprint 903 may bein contact with the glass 510 over the entire biometric sensing region501 (first sub-region 810 and second sub-region 820). Since there is noair layer between the glass 510 and the counterfeit fingerprint 903,unlike when valleys of the actual fingerprint 901 is placed on the glass510, some of the light output from the display 540 may be not refractedand may be absorbed by or transmitted into the counterfeit fingerprint903 as indicated by indicia 925. Hence, when the 2D counterfeitfingerprint 903 is brought into contact with the glass 510 as shown inFIG. 9B, the amount of light incident on the biometric sensor 580disposed in the second sub-region 820 may be different compared with thecase of FIG. 9A where the actual fingerprint 901 is brought into contactwith the glass 510.

In various embodiments, the processor 610 or 620 of the electronicdevice 600 can distinguish whether the external object 901 or 903 incontact with the glass 510 is the actual fingerprint 901 or thecounterfeit fingerprint 903 by controlling the display 540 so that thefirst sub-region 810 and the second sub-region 820 emit lights withdifferent properties and analyzing the characteristics of the lightsensed at the biometric sensor 580 disposed in the second sub-region820.

FIG. 10 is optical profiles showing the results of a biometricinformation recognition experiment using an actual fingerprint and a 2Dcounterfeit fingerprint. FIG. 11 shows a result of comparison betweenoptical profiles obtained by a biometric sensor for an actualfingerprint and a 2D counterfeit fingerprint.

With reference to FIG. 10, for the experiment, the first sub-region 810of the display (e.g. display 540) was set to output cyan colored light,and the pixels of the second sub-region 820 of the display 540 weredeactivated. The actual fingerprint 901 and the 2D counterfeitfingerprint 903 were placed on the glass corresponding to the firstsub-region 810 and the second sub-region 820, and the light profilesobtained from the biometric sensor 580 disposed in the second sub-region820 were analyzed. The above experimental conditions are merely anexample, and the first display attribute and the second displayattribute may be changed in various ways.

It can be seen from FIG. 10 that when the second sub-region 820 isoperated according to the second display attribute (e.g. the pixels inthe second sub-region 820 were deactivated), the optical image sensedfrom the biometric sensor 580 is relatively dark in the secondsub-region 820. Comparing the cases of the actual fingerprint 901 andthe 2D counterfeit fingerprint 903, it can be seen that the lightprofiles differ in at least the second sub-region 820. For example, thesecond sub-region 820 is relatively brighter when the actual fingerprint901 is applied. This difference can be perceived more clearly if theoptical image is converted into a light profile along one direction(e.g. horizontal direction) passing through the center of the secondsub-region 820 as indicated by indicia 1005 or 1007. For example, whenthe actual fingerprint 901 is used, a peak in intensity can be detectedin the central region as indicated by indicia 1001. However, when the 2Dcounterfeit fingerprint 903 is used, the peak is not present in thecentral region as indicated by indicia 1003. Thus, in variousembodiments, the processor 610 or 620 of the electronic device 600 candetermine whether the external object 901 or 903 is the actualfingerprint 901 by controlling the display 540 so that the firstsub-region 810 and the second sub-region 820 emit light with differentproperties. The processor 610 or 620 can then check whether the lightsensed by the biometric sensor 580 includes a peak in intensity as shownin FIG. 11.

However, if attributes of a preset region (e.g. second sub-region 820 ofthe biometric sensing region 501) are adjusted as disclosed above, i.e.if pixels in the second sub-region 820 are deactivated, failure todetect biometric information may occur when the processor 610 or 620does not obtain sufficient biometric information from the regions thatare illuminated. For example, illuminating the first sub-region 810alone may not be sufficient to obtain necessary biometric information.To avoid this problem, in various embodiments, the electronic device 600may arrange the second sub-region 820 in a dummy pixel part located inthe border portion of the biometric sensing region 501. For example, theoptical biometric sensor 580 may be located at the border portion of thebiometric sensing region 501. In one embodiment, the electronic device600 may drive the optical biometric sensor 580 at least two times toallow the biometric sensor 580 to capture plural images (e.g. pluralfingerprint images). In doing so, during one out of the at least twotimes, the electronic device 600 may adjust the light outputted from thesecond sub-region 820 (e.g. deactivate the pixels in the secondsub-region 820) to determine whether the external object 901 or 903 is afalsified fingerprint. For example, during the first time of fingerprintimage capture, the processor 610 or 620 may drive the display 540 sothat the first sub-region 810 and the second sub-region 820 have thesame attributes, so that the biometric sensor 580 acquires a first imagecorresponding to the external object 901 or 903. During the second timeof fingerprint image capture, the processor 610 or 620 may drive thedisplay 540 while deactivating the second sub-region 820, so that thebiometric sensor 580 acquires a second image corresponding to theexternal object 901 or 903. Determination of whether the external object901 or 903 is a forged fingerprint may be done using the second image.Alternatively, the second sub-region 820 may be deactivated during thefirst time of fingerprint image capture.

FIGS. 12A to 12C are diagrams illustrating various biometric sensorsaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

With reference to FIGS. 12A to 12C, in various embodiments,determination of whether the external object 901 or 903 is a forgedfingerprint may be done by altering the properties of the secondsub-region 1220 (e.g. second sub-region 820) as described above inrelation to the experiment of FIG. 10. For example, when operating thedisplay 540 to output light for biometric information recognition, theprocessor 610 or 620 may be configured to control the display 540 sothat the second sub-region 1220 has different attributes from those ofthe first sub-region 1210 (e.g. first sub-region 810) and analyze thesignals sensed by the biometric sensor 580 corresponding to two or morepixels in the second sub-region 1220. As shown in FIG. 12A, theprocessor 610 or 620 may analyze a signal obtained from the biometricsensor 580 corresponding to two different pixels 1231 located in thesecond sub-region 1220. As shown in FIG. 12B, the processor 610 or 620may analyze a signal obtained from the biometric sensor 580corresponding to nine pixels 1233 located in the second sub-region 1220.As shown in FIG. 12C, the processor 610 or 620 may analyze a signalobtained from the biometric sensor 580 corresponding to twenty-fivepixels 1235 located in the second sub-region 1220.

In one embodiment, the processor 610 or 620 may perform a weighted sumoperation on the signal obtained from the biometric sensor 580corresponding to two or more pixels. For example, the processor 610 or620 may assign a relatively high weight to a first signal correspondingto a first pixel located at the central portion of the second sub-region1220, and assign a relatively low weight to a second signalcorresponding to a second pixel located at the border portion of thesecond sub-region 1220. After summing the weighted signals, theprocessor 610 or 620 may determine whether the result of the weightedsum exceeds a preset threshold. If the result exceeds the threshold, theprocessor 610 or 620 may determine that the external object 901 or 903is the actual fingerprint 901 because exceeding the threshold indicatesthat a peak in intensity, as shown in FIG. 10, is present in the secondsub-region 1220. If the result is below the threshold, the processor 610or 620 may determine that the external object 901 or 903 is thecounterfeit fingerprint 903 because that indicates that the peak is notpresent in the second sub-region 1220.

FIGS. 13A and 13B are illustrations showing 2-dimensional fast Fouriertransforms of signals sensed by a biometric sensor according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

With reference to FIGS. 13A and 13B, as explained above, in operatingthe display 540 to output light for biometric information recognition,the processor (e.g. first processor 610 or second processor 620) maycontrol the display 540 so that the second sub-region 820 has differentattributes from those of the first sub-region 810. The processor mayalso apply 2D FFT (2-dimensional fast Fourier transform) to the signalssensed by the biometric sensor 580, when the biometric sensor 580corresponds to two or more pixels included in the second sub-region 820.The processor may then determine whether the external object 901 or 903is falsified by analyzing the distribution of the high frequencycomponents of the signal.

According to an experiment, when the external object 901 or 903 was theactual fingerprint 901, the result of 2D-FFT was as shown in FIG. 13A.When the external object 901 or 903 was the counterfeit fingerprint 903,the result of 2D-FFT was as shown in FIG. 13B. As it can be seen fromreference numeral 1310 of FIG. 13A and reference numeral 1320 of FIG.13B, the distributions of high frequency components are different.Hence, in various embodiments, the electronic device 600 may determinewhether the external object 901 or 903 is falsified by examining thedistribution of high frequency components in the 2D FFT. For example,the processor 610 or 620 may determine the second display attribute forthe second sub-region 820 of the display 540 and retrieve from memory(e.g. the memory 730) the distribution of high frequency componentscorresponding to the second display attribute. The processor 610 or 620may apply 2D-FFT to the signal obtained from the biometric sensor 580located in the second sub-region 820 to calculate the distribution ofhigh frequency components, and compare the calculated distribution ofhigh frequency components in the 2D-FFT to the distribution retrievedfrom memory to determine whether they are identical or similar. If thecalculated distribution is identical or similar to the distribution inmemory, the processor 610 or 620 may determine that the external object901 or 903 is the actual fingerprint 901. Otherwise, the processor 610or 620 may determine that the external object 901 or 903 is thecounterfeit fingerprint 903.

In the above description with reference to FIG. 12 to FIG. 13, sinceadditional signal processing is required to determine whether theexternal object 901 or 903 is falsified, user authentication usingbiometric information may take longer. In various embodiments, to solvethis problem, the electronic device 600 may apply an adaptive procedurebased on the current state or the security level of the applicationrunning in the electronic device. For example, when the electronicdevice 600 is currently providing a payment service which requires arelatively high security level, the processor 610 or 620 may beconfigured to determine whether the external object 901 or 903 isfalsified, even if such determination requires additional time and wouldcause delays in user authentication. On the other hand, when theelectronic device 600 receives an unlock request from the user, theprocessor 610 or 620 may regard this operation as corresponding to arelatively low security level, and thus the operation of determiningwhether the external object 901 or 903 is falsified may be skipped.

In one embodiment, in the electronic device 600, the fingerprintrecognition function may be carried out in a separate security zoneso-called trust zone (TZ), and only single-core and single-threadprocessing may be allowed in the TZ depending on the implementation. Invarious embodiments, when the above-described procedure is applied toperform the fingerprint recognition function, an additionalauthentication time delay may occur. Hence, the electronic device 600may assign the task of determining whether the external object 901 or903 is falsified to the main processor 610 or 620 or the sensor module.For example, the electronic device 600 may execute the algorithm fordetermining whether the external object 901 or 903 is falsified throughthe main processor 610 or 620 or the sensor module, and execute thealgorithm for matching and authentication of the external object 901 or903 through the TZ in parallel.

FIGS. 14A to 14F illustrate various light output schemes of the displayfor biometric information recognition according to various embodiments.

With reference to FIGS. 14A to 14F, the processor (e.g. first processor610 or second processor 620) may control, for example, the display 540to output light for biometric information recognition in various ways.

As shown in FIG. 14A, the processor 610 or 620 may control the display540 to output light in the biometric sensing region 501, which is apredesignated region for sensing biometric information. The processor610 or 620 may set the middle region of the biometric sensing region 501as the second sub-region 1413 (e.g. the second sub-region 820), andcontrol the second sub-region 1413 to emit light with an attributedifferent from that of the light emitted from the first sub-region 1411(e.g. the first sub-region 810). For example, the processor 610 or 620may deactivate the pixels included in the second sub-region 1413 so thatthey do not output light.

As shown in FIG. 14B, the processor 610 or 620 may divide the biometricsensing region 501 into the striped first sub-region 1421 and secondsub-region 1423, and control the first sub-region 1421 to output lightaccording to the first display attribute and the second sub-region 1423to output light according to the second display attribute different fromthe first display attribute. As shown in FIG. 14C, the processor 610 or620 may divide the biometric sensing region 501 into the firstsub-region 1431 and the second sub-region 1433 in a matrix or chessboardpattern, and control the display 540 so that the first sub-region 1431outputs light according to the first display attribute and the secondsub-region 1433 outputs light according to the second display attributedifferent from the first display attribute.

As shown in FIG. 14D, the processor 610 or 620 may designate the middleregion of the biometric sensing region 501 as the second sub-region 1443so that the second sub-region 1443 has a specific shape, such as a starshape, and adjust the second sub-region 1443 so that it outputs lightwith an attribute different from that of the light output from the firstsub-region 1441.

As shown in FIG. 14E, the processor 610 or 620 may designate the middleregion of the biometric sensing region 501 as the second sub-region 1453so that the second sub-region 1453 has a specific shape, such as a crossshape, and adjust the second sub-region 1453 so that it outputs lightwith an attribute different from that of the light output from the firstsub-region 1451.

As shown in FIG. 14F, the processor 610 or 620 may designate the secondsub-region 1463 to have a donut shape with an opening in the middle, andadjust the second sub-region 1463 so that it outputs light with anattribute different from that of the light output from the firstsub-region 1461. In one embodiment, like the remaining first sub-region1461, the middle open portion of the second sub-region 1463 may outputlight according to the first display attribute different from the seconddisplay attribute of the second sub-region 1463.

In one embodiment, the processor 610 or 620 may change the shape andsize of the first sub-region 1411, 1421, 1431, 1441, 1451 or 1461 andthe second sub-region 1413, 1423, 1433, 1443, 1453 or 1463 according toat least one condition. For example, when the biometric sensing region501 partitioned into stripes as shown in FIG. 14B, if the signalobtained from the biometric sensor 580 is less than a preset referencesignal, the processor 610 or 620 may change the shape of the biometricsensing region 501 so that obtained signal can exceed the presetreference signal. This may be done by reducing the area of the secondsub-region 1413, 1423, 1433, 1443, 1453 or 1463. In one embodiment, theprocessor 610 or 620 may determine the area of the external object 901or 903 based on the signal obtained through at least a portion of thebiometric sensing region 501, and may change the shape or size of thefirst sub-region 1411, 1421, 1431, 1441, 1451 or 1461 or the secondsub-region 1413, 1423, 1433, 1443, 1453 or 1463 based on the determinedarea. In one embodiment, the electronic device may change the positionor size of the second sub-region 1413, 1423, 1433, 1443, 1453 or 1463based on the position of the external object 901 or 903. In variousembodiments, the electronic device 600 may be configured to store, inthe memory, optical profile data of the actual fingerprint 901experimentally obtained using various second sub-regions, such as thesub-region 1413, 1423, 1433, 1443, 1453 or 1463. The electronic device600 may then determine whether the external object 901 or 903 isfalsified by comparing the profile of the external object to the storeddata.

FIG. 15 is a graph of optical profiles obtained by the biometric sensorwhen the display is used as a light source and when the display ispartitioned into stripes as shown in FIG. 14B. In FIG. 15, referencenumeral 1520 indicates an optical profile associated with a 2Dcounterfeit fingerprint 903, and reference numeral 1510 indicates anoptical profile associated an actual fingerprint 901.

It can be seen from FIG. 15 that when the biometric sensing region 501is divided into stripes, the light profiles measured respectively in thefirst sub-region 1421 and the second sub-region 1423 vary depending onwhether the input fingerprint is falsified.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, an operationmethod for the electronic device including a biometric sensor and adisplay having a biometric sensing region may include: operating a firstsub-region of the biometric sensing region according to a first displayattribute and operating a second sub-region of the biometric sensingregion according to a second display attribute; while the firstsub-region is operated according to the first display attribute and thesecond sub-region is operated according to the second display attribute,obtaining, through the biometric sensor, a signal corresponding to anexternal object, wherein the signal is generated at least partiallybased on light that is emitted from the first sub-region or the secondsub-region and reflected by the external object; performingauthentication on the external object if the signal satisfies aspecified condition; and preventing authentication on the externalobject if the signal does not satisfy the specified condition. Operatingthe first sub-region according to the first display attribute andoperating the second sub-region according to the second displayattribute may further include adjusting brightness, color, or grayscaleof the display or a voltage applied to the display. Operating the firstsub-region according to the first display attribute and operating thesecond sub-region according to the second display attribute may furtherinclude activating at least one pixel included in the first sub-regionand deactivating at least one pixel included in the second sub-region.The signal may include information obtained via a portion of thebiometric sensor corresponding to the second sub-region. The method mayfurther include determining that the specified condition is satisfied ifa portion of the signal corresponds to a designated frequency anddetermining that the specified condition is not satisfied if the portionof the signal does not correspond to the designated frequency. Themethod may further include: selecting a first portion of the signalcorresponding to a first pixel included in the second sub-region of thedisplay and selecting a second portion of the signal corresponding to asecond pixel included in the second sub-region; assigning a first weightto the first portion and assign a second weight to the second portion;and determining whether the specified condition is satisfied at leastpartially based on the first portion weighted with the first weight andthe second portion weighted with the second weight. The method mayfurther include: controlling, during a first time of biometricinformation capture, the display so that the first sub-region and thesecond sub-region output light according to the first display attribute;and controlling, during a second time of biometric information capture,the display so that the first sub-region outputs light according to thefirst display attribute and the second sub-region outputs lightaccording to the second display attribute. The method may furtherinclude periodically changing the first display attribute and the seconddisplay attribute.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

At operation 1610, the processor (e.g. first processor 610 or secondprocessor 620) of the electronic device (e.g. electronic device 600) mayadjust the display attributes of the display (e.g. the display 540). Forexample, the processor 610 or 620 may sense biometric information of theuser via the biometric sensor (e.g. the biometric sensor 580). Theprocessor 610 or 620 may control at least some of the display to outputlight and to serve as a light source for the biometric sensor. Theprocessor 610 or 620 may then sense biometric information by driving theoptical biometric sensor 580. For example, among the designated regionof the display 540, the processor 610 or 620 may set the firstsub-region 810 to a first display attribute and set at least a portionof the second sub-region 820 different from the first sub-region 810 toa second display attribute. That is, the processor 610 or 620 maycontrol the first sub-region 810 of the display 540 to output lightcorresponding to the first display attribute, and control the secondsub-region 820 of the display 540 to output light corresponding to thesecond display attribute. The first display attribute and the seconddisplay attribute may be different in terms of color, brightness,intensity, etc. In one embodiment, as part of setting the first displayattribute and the second display attribute, the processor 610 or 620 mayadjust the brightness, color, or grayscale of the display 540 and atleast one voltage applied to the display 540. In one embodiment, theprocessor 610 or 620 may activate pixels included in the firstsub-region 810 of the display 540 according to the first displayattribute, and may deactivate pixels included in the second sub-region820 of the display 540 according to the second display attribute.Deactivating a pixel may indicate, for example, that the brightness ofthe pixel is set to zero (0).

At operation 1620, the processor 610 or 620 of the electronic device 600may obtain a signal corresponding to an external object (e.g. theexternal object 901 or 903) via the biometric sensor 580. For example,the processor 610 or 620 may receive, through the biometric sensor 580,a signal corresponding to the light that is output from at least someregion of the display 540 and then reflected by the external object 901or 903. In one embodiment, the processor 610 or 620 may set informationobtained via the biometric sensor 580 corresponding to the secondsub-region 820 of the display 540 as a reference signal.

At operation 1630, the processor 610 or 620 may check whether thereference signal meets a preset condition and determine whether theobtained biometric information is falsified based on the result of thecheck. For example, if the reference signal satisfies a first specifiedcondition, the processor 610 or 620 may determine that the obtainedbiometric information is not falsified. If the reference signalsatisfies a second specified condition, the processor 610 or 620 maydetermine that the obtained biometric information is falsified. Thefirst specified condition and the second specified condition may be setbased on whether the reference signal includes a high frequencycomponent. For example, the processor 610 or 620 may determine that thefirst specified condition is satisfied when the reference signalincludes a high frequency component above a threshold, and may determinethat the second specified condition is satisfied when the referencesignal does not include the high frequency component above thethreshold.

In one embodiment, the processor 610 or 620 of the electronic device 600may perform a specified function according to whether the obtainedbiometric information is falsified. For example, if the obtainedbiometric information is falsified, the processor 610 or 620 may stopuser authentication and output a user interface notifying authenticationfailure through the display 540. If the obtained biometric informationis not falsified, the processor 610 or 620 may confirm the identity ofthe user. For example, if the reference signal satisfies the firstspecified condition, the processor 610 or 620 may be configured toauthenticate the user. On the other hand, if the reference signalsatisfies the second specified condition, the processor 610 or 620 maybe configured to prevent authentication.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating more detailed operations of anelectronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

At operation 1710, the processor (e.g. first processor 610 or secondprocessor 620) of the electronic device (e.g. electronic device 600) maydetect input of biometric information. The processor 610 or 620 mayidentify that it is in a state of sensing biometric information byidentifying a particular application that is currently running or byidentifying that a particular input has been detected. For example, whena specific application (e.g. application related to a financial service)is executed, the processor 610 or 620 may provide an interfacerequesting user authentication through the display (e.g. 540) andcontrol the biometric sensor 580 to detect input of biometricinformation. Or, when a preset key is input or a preset touch isdetected on the screen area of the display 540 while the electronicdevice 600 is in the locked or sleep state, the processor 610 or 620 mayprovide a user interface requesting user authentication through thedisplay 540 and control the biometric sensor 580 to detect input ofbiometric information. In an embodiment, the above user interfaces maybe provided for a predetermined amount of time.

At operation 1720, the processor 610 or 620 may change the attribute ofat least some region of the display 540. For example, the processor 610or 620 may control the display 540 to output light in a portion of thebiometric sensing region 501 and not to output light in another portionof the biometric sensing region 501. Here, controlling the display 540not to output light in a portion of the biometric sensing region 501 mayenable the processor 610 or 620 to identify whether the input biometricinformation is falsified. For example, among the designated region ofthe display 540, the processor 610 or 620 may set the first sub-region810 to a first display attribute and set at least a portion of thesecond sub-region 820 different from the first sub-region 810 to asecond display attribute. That is, the processor 610 or 620 may controlthe first sub-region 810 of the display 540 to output lightcorresponding to the first display attribute, and control the secondsub-region 820 of the display 540 to output light corresponding to thesecond display attribute. The first display attribute and the seconddisplay attribute may be different in terms of color, brightness,intensity, etc. The processor 610 or 620 may be configured toperiodically change the first display attribute and the second displayattribute. For example, the processor 610 or 620 may change the firstdisplay attribute and the second display attribute after every time userauthentication is performed via the biometric sensor 580. That is, theelectronic device 600 may further enhance security by changing the firstdisplay attribute and the second display attribute after every time userauthentication is performed through the biometric sensor 580.

At operation 1730, the processor 610 or 620 may obtain biometricinformation via the biometric sensor 580 based on the light outputtedfrom at least some region of the display 540. For example, the processor610 or 620 may receive, through the biometric sensor 580, a signalcorresponding to the light that is outputted from at least some regionof the display 540 and then reflected by the external object 901 or 903.In one embodiment, the processor 610 or 620 may set information obtainedvia the biometric sensor 580 corresponding to the second sub-region 820of the display 540 as a reference signal.

At operation 1740, the processor 610 or 620 may determine whether thesignal obtained via the biometric sensor 580 satisfies a first specifiedcondition. For example, the processor 610 or 620 may determine whetherthe reference signal acquired via the biometric sensor 580 correspondingto the second sub-region 820 meets the first specified condition.Specifically, the processor 610 or 620 may determine that the firstspecified condition is satisfied when the reference signal includes ahigh frequency component above a threshold, and may determine that thefirst specified condition is not satisfied when the reference signaldoes not include the high frequency component above the threshold. Ifthe first specified condition is satisfied, the procedure proceeds tooperation 1750. If the first specified condition is not satisfied, theprocedure proceeds to operation 1760.

At operation 1750, the processor 610 or 620 may authenticate theexternal object 901 or 903. For example, the processor 610 or 620 maydetermine whether the signal obtained from the biometric informationmatches the biometric information stored in memory, and may perform userauthentication based on the determination result. In one embodiment,based on the result of user authentication, the processor 610 or 620 mayoutput a user interface indicating the authentication result on thedisplay 540.

At operation 1760, the processor 610 or 620 may stop authentication onthe external object 901 or 903. For example, the processor 610 or 620may not determine whether the signal obtained from the biometricinformation matches the biometric information stored in memory. Theprocessor 610 or 620 may also cause the display 540 to output a userinterface indicating authentication failure. Here, the user interfaceindicating authentication failure may include, for example, anotification that “the input biometric information is falsified.”

As described above, various embodiments of the present disclosure canenhance security for electronic devices by accurately identifyingfalsified biometric information (e.g. fake fingerprint). Suchidentification may be done by controlling the light source of thebiometric sensor according to methods disclosed herein.

A programming module according to embodiments of the present disclosuremay include one or more of the aforementioned components or may furtherinclude other additional components, or some of the aforementionedcomponents may be omitted. Operations executed by a module, aprogramming module, or other component elements according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure may be executed sequentially, inparallel, repeatedly, or in a heuristic manner. Further, some operationsmay be executed according to another order or may be omitted, or otheroperations may be added.

Certain aspects of the above-described embodiments of the presentdisclosure can be implemented in hardware, firmware or via the executionof software or computer code that can be stored in a recording mediumsuch as a CD ROM, a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), a magnetic tape, aRAM, a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magneto-optical disk or computercode downloaded over a network originally stored on a remote recordingmedium or a non-transitory machine readable medium and to be stored on alocal recording medium, so that the methods described herein can berendered via such software that is stored on the recording medium usinga general purpose computer, or a special processor or in programmable ordedicated hardware, such as an ASIC or FPGA. As would be understood inthe art, the computer, the processor, microprocessor controller or theprogrammable hardware include memory components, e.g., RAM, ROM, Flash,etc. that may store or receive software or computer code that whenaccessed and executed by the computer, processor or hardware implementthe processing methods described herein.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference tocertain embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled inthe art that various changes in form and detail may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as definedby the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device comprising: a display havinga biometric sensing region; a biometric sensor disposed in the biometricsensing region; and a processor, wherein the processor is configured to:operate a first sub-region of the biometric sensing region according toa first display attribute and operate a second sub-region of thebiometric sensing region according to a second display attribute; whilethe first sub-region is operated according to the first displayattribute and the second sub-region is operated according to the seconddisplay attribute, obtain, through the biometric sensor, a signalcorresponding to an external object, wherein the signal is generated atleast partially based on light that is emitted from the first sub-regionor the second sub-region and reflected by the external object; performauthentication on the external object if the signal satisfies aspecified condition; and prevent authentication on the external objectif the signal does not satisfy the specified condition.
 2. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein operating the first sub-region ofthe biometric sensing region according to the first display attributeand operating the second sub-region of the biometric sensing regionaccording to the second display attribute are performed when theexternal object is in contact with or in proximity to the biometricsensing region.
 3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein inoperating the first sub-region of the biometric sensing region accordingto the first display attribute and operating the second sub-region ofthe biometric sensing region according to the second display attribute,the processor is further configured to adjust brightness, color, orgrayscale of the display or a voltage applied to the display.
 4. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein in operating the first sub-regionof the biometric sensing region according to the first display attributeand operating the second sub-region of the biometric sensing regionaccording to the second display attribute, the processor is furtherconfigured to activate at least one pixel included in the firstsub-region and deactivate at least one pixel included in the secondsub-region.
 5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the biometricsensor is configured to include a first biometric sensing regioncorresponding to the first sub-region and a second biometric sensingregion corresponding to the second sub-region, and wherein the processoris further configured to determine whether the signal satisfies thespecified condition at least partially based on a first signal generatedby the first biometric sensing region or a second signal generated bythe second biometric sensing region.
 6. The electronic device of claim1, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine that thespecified condition is satisfied if a portion of the signal correspondsto a designated frequency, and determine that the specified condition isnot satisfied if the portion of the signal does not correspond to thedesignated frequency.
 7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein theprocessor is further configured to: select a first portion of the signalcorresponding to a first pixel included in the second sub-region of thedisplay and select a second portion of the signal corresponding to asecond pixel included in the second sub-region; assign a first weight tothe first portion and assign a second weight to the second portion; anddetermine whether the specified condition is satisfied at leastpartially based on the first portion weighted with the first weight andthe second portion weighted with the second weight.
 8. The electronicdevice of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:operate the first sub-region and the second sub-region according to asame display attribute; while the first sub-region and the secondsub-region are operated according to the same display attribute, obtain,through the biometric sensor, a second signal corresponding to theexternal object, wherein the second signal is generated at leastpartially based on light from the first sub-region or the secondsub-region and reflected by the external object; and perform theauthentication at least partially based on the second signal.
 9. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to periodically change the first display attribute or thesecond display attribute.
 10. The electronic device of claim 1, whereinoperating the first sub-region of the biometric sensing region accordingto the first display attribute and operating the second sub-region ofthe biometric sensing region according to the second display attributeare performed when the electronic device is in a specified state or anapplication running on the electronic device required a specifiedsecurity.
 11. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processor isfurther configured to: set at least a portion of a border of thebiometric sensing region as the second sub-region; and set at least aportion of a remaining region of the biometric sensing region as thefirst sub-region.
 12. A method of operation for an electronic deviceincluding a biometric sensor and a display having a biometric sensingregion, the method comprising: operating a first sub-region of thebiometric sensing region according to a first display attribute andoperating a second sub-region of the biometric sensing region accordingto a second display attribute; while the first sub-region is operatedaccording to the first display attribute and the second sub-region isoperated according to the second display attribute, obtaining, throughthe biometric sensor, a signal corresponding to an external object,wherein the signal is generated at least partially based on light thatis emitted from the first sub-region or the second sub-region andreflected by the external object; performing authentication on theexternal object if the signal satisfies a specified condition; andpreventing authentication on the external object if the signal does notsatisfy the specified condition.
 13. The method of claim 12, whereinoperating the first sub-region according to the first display attributeand operating the second sub-region according to the second displayattribute further comprises adjusting brightness, color, or grayscale ofthe display or a voltage applied to the display.
 14. The method of claim12, wherein operating the first sub-region according to the firstdisplay attribute and operating the second sub-region according to thesecond display attribute further comprises: activating at least onepixel included in the first sub-region; and deactivating at least onepixel included in the second sub-region.
 15. The method of claim 12,wherein the signal comprises information obtained via a portion of thebiometric sensor corresponding to the second sub-region.
 16. The methodof claim 12, further comprising: determining that the specifiedcondition is satisfied if a portion of the signal corresponds to adesignated frequency; and determining that the specified condition isnot satisfied if the portion of the signal does not correspond to thedesignated frequency.
 17. The method of claim 12, wherein determiningthat the specified condition is satisfied further comprises: selecting afirst portion of the signal corresponding to a first pixel included inthe second sub-region of the display and selecting a second portion ofthe signal corresponding to a second pixel included in the secondsub-region; assigning a first weight to the first portion and assign asecond weight to the second portion; and determining whether thespecified condition is satisfied at least partially based on the firstportion weighted with the first weight and the second portion weightedwith the second weight.
 18. The method of claim 12, further comprising:controlling, during a first time of biometric information capture, thedisplay so that the first sub-region and the second sub-region outputlight according to the first display attribute; and controlling, duringa second time of biometric information capture, the display so that thefirst sub-region outputs light according to the first display attributeand the second sub-region outputs light according to the second displayattribute.
 19. The method of claim 12, further comprising periodicallychanging the first display attribute and the second display attribute.20. A non-transitory storage medium storing a program for controllingoperations of an electronic device including a display having abiometric sensing region, wherein the program is configured to cause theelectronic device to: operate a first sub-region of the biometricsensing region according to a first display attribute and operate asecond sub-region of the biometric sensing region according to a seconddisplay attribute; while the first sub-region is operated according tothe first display attribute and the second sub-region is operatedaccording to the second display attribute, obtain, through a biometricsensor, a signal corresponding to an external object, wherein the signalis generated at least partially based on light that is emitted from thefirst sub-region or the second sub-region and reflected by the externalobject; perform authentication on the external object if the signalsatisfies a specified condition; and prevent authentication on theexternal object if the signal does not satisfy the specified condition.